New City Fire Death Brings Back Memories Of Dark Days For Rockland County

The death of 75-year-old  in a fire at her 7 Central Avenue home Friday night was the first structure fire death in Rockland County in 2012, and it was the first death in a structure fire in the county since 2009.

For emergency services workers and volunteers who rushed to the intense fire at about 10:30 p.m., the death left them visibly shaken — and disappointed that they were not able to rescue her from the two-story home a block off Little Tor Road.

Rockland County Fire and Emergency Services Director Gordon Wren Jr. said Rockland's record of safety is a testament to the work of first responders in the county, including the members of the 26 all-volunteer fire departments that protect Rockland.

At the scene of Friday's fire, Wren recalled that in the 1970s Rockland County was plagued by deaths in structure fires that hit double digits, such as 18 killed in 1972 and 13 killed in 1978. Although Rockland's population is much larger today, Wren said many factors have gone into saving lives, including ...

- Extensive training and cooperation among the volunteer fire departments.

- Improvements in firefighting equipment.

- Fire safety campaigns run locally and countywide.

- And, a major push that began in 1987 to have homeowners and apartment owners install smoke detectors.

Wren said that many Rockland residents have escaped death because smoke detectors alerted them to a fire and they could evacuate their homes or apartments. Investigators on Friday were trying to determine whether the 7 Central Ave. house in New City had working smoke detectors.

Here is an overview of fatal fires in Rockland County dating back to 1981:

ROCKLAND FATAL FIRES

DATE

TIME

ADDRESS

NAME

AGE

Aug. 24, 1981

9: 10 a.m.

34B Route 303 Valley Cottage

Kathryn Stalter

72 (electrical)

June 29, 1982

11:15 a.m.

20 Spruce St. Orangeburg

Jean Slafta

64

Dec. 13, 1983

4:15 a.m.

492 N. Greenbush Rd. Blauvelt

Aurion Prictor

72 (undetermined)

Sept. 11,1984

4:50 a.m.

329 Westside Ave., Haverstraw

Edward Bailey

25

March 27, 1985

2:15 p.m.

Thiells-Mt. Ivy Road Thiells

Rita T. lessi

56

July 13, 1986

6:23 a.m.

Thorpe Village Sparkill

Alexander Nizik

78 (smoking)

Sept. 29, 1986

morning

78 S. Broadway Nyack

Nai W. Chin

57 (smoking)

Feb. 23, 1987

9:36 p.m.

4 Hillside Dr. New City

Lillian Van Houten

58 (smoking)

Feb. 9, 1988

75 W. Church St. Spring Valley

Sara St. Vil, Sandra St. Vil, Maurine St. Vil

8, 13, 72

Nov. 10, 1988

4:55 a.m.

91 S. Airmont Road, Tallman

James F. Balvo, William Kobbe

31 (kitchen)

Jan. 17, 1989

109 College Ave. Nanuet

Felix Zallonis

77 (electrical)

Feb. 19, 1989

12:46 a.m.

Tallman Towers S. Broadway Nyack

Helen Perretta, Janice Russell

78, 65

April 14, 1990

Normandy Village Nanuet

Arthur Hardman

77 (smoking)

June 16, 1990

146 N. Western Highway Blauvelt

Robert Shepard

20

July 9, 1990

7:26 a.m.

185OldTappan Rd. Tappan

Mary Mochnaki

7 (accidental, matches)

Feb. 12, 1991

9:30 a.m.

103 Blauvelt Ave. West Haverstraw

Jonathan Meighen

18 months

Sept. 23, 1993 fire

(Died Sept. 28, 1993)

Night after midnight

In a tent in Congers

Lainda Harty (homeless)

45 (gas grill explosion)

Feb. 8, 1994 fire died Feb. 22

Late morning

Suffern

Kevin Beauchard

9 months (candle)

March 1, 1994

11:30 a.m.

8 Wood St. Spring Valley

Ermicle Faroul Chris Mirville

62 and 3 years old

April 19, 1995

12:31 p.m.

3 Prospect St. Spring Valley

Tanya Price

24 (arson)

Dec. 27,1995

12:53 p.m.

16ForestGlenRd., VC

Allysia Hoehmann

15 mos. (electrical)

Mar. 29, 1996

11:45 a.m.

Mobil Gas Stat. 9W, Nyack

Paula Miller

54 (gasoline  accident)

Sept. 16, 1996

2:57 a.m.

7 First St., Congers

Fionnuala Roche & James Monagahan

27, 26 (smoking)

Oct. 26, 1996

4:49 a.m.

600 Route 303 Blauvelt

Al Defumere Jr. & Matthew Defumere

49, 6 (electrical)

Dec. 5, 1996

4:28 a.m.

278 Piermont Ave., Piermont

Quiley Bullock

79 (electrical)

Dec. 27, 1998, died Dec. 29

8:53 a.m.

6  Lane St., Monsey

Shifra Shain

5 (candles)

Mar. 9, 1999

12:40 a.m.

34A Closter Rd., Palisades

James Wadleigh

63 (smoking)

June 22, 1999

11:44 a.m.

18 White St., Spring Valley

Joseph Augustin

81 (electrical)

Dec. 12, 2001

9:56 p.m.

3 Manor Drive Monsey

Marvin Goldrich

62 (gas leak)

Aug. 15, 2002

12:07 p.m.

213OrangeTpke, Sloatsburg

Mary Rozum Byrnes

89 (candles)

Fire June 9, 2003 (Death June 30, 2003)

8:25 p.m.

Monsey Park Home for Adults, 15 Monsey Blvd.

Joseph Marekja

75 (smoking)

March 6, 2004

1 :49 a.m.

2 Hoffman St. Spring Valley

Unidentified vagrant

Smoking and drinking

March 7, 2004

9:25 a.m.

169 S.Reld Drive Pearl River

Theresa K. Oettlein

82 (under investigation)

April 14, 2004

1:38 p.m.

32 Broad St.

Havers traw

Marie Lastennet

89 (under investigation, probably accidental)

July 31, 2004

9 p.m.

Route 303 & PIP overpass

Orangeburg

James Ables

Paul Houston

23

19 (car accident/fire)

Oct. 31, 2004

1:30 a.m.

Blueberry Hill Apts.

Kearsing Parkway

Spring Valley

Edna Thomas

42 (suspicious, but undetermined)

Feb. 27, 2005

12:30 a.m.

12 Lincoln St.

Spring Valley

vacant house

Juan Mata, 40, and Manuel Esteban-Mendez, 44

second-degree arson and second-degree manslaughter

Dec. 14, 2005

Died Dec. 30 at WMC

12:11 p.m.

77 Buchanan St.

Pearl River

Jeanette Younger

87 (small electrical appliance)

Jan. 27, 2006

3 a.m.

Route 59 and Western Highway, West Nyack

Alfonse Sedotto

23 (car accident/fire)

March 3, 2006, died March 4 at WMC

7:45 p.m.

129 Fred Hecht Drive

Spring Valley

Billy James Walker

55 (using stove for heat/clothing caught fire)

April 25, 2006

Died April 30 at WMC

1:50 a.m.

83 Arlene Court

Pearl River

Thomas P. Houlihan

50 (undetermined)

Dec. 10, 2006

Died Dec. 11 at WMC

9:55 p.m.

Evergreen Senior Living, Lafayette Ave., Spring Valley

Bassie McSherry

72 (smoking set her night clothes and bedding on fire)

Jan. 15, 2007

11:08 a.m.

86 Lois Drive, Pearl River

Daniel Feck

64 (probably smoking)

Jan. 29, 2007

Died Feb. 9, 2009

11:15 p.m.

17 Skyline Terr. (Loeb House)

Wesley Hills

Richard Masone

54 (smoking)

April 8, 2007

Victim found in woods 3 days after crash

125 Sister Servant Lane, Sloatsburg

Francis McCloskey

79, fire caused by car accident

Sept. 29, 2007

3:45 p.m.

122 Parkway Trailer Park, Pomona

Jackson Holland

74 (fell asleep in chair outside, smoking)

April 26, 2009

6:40 p.m.

9 Fletcher Road, Spring Valley

Henry K. Lewandowski,

67 (smoking)

April 20, 2012

10:30 p.m.

7 Central Ave., New City

Eleanor Luciano

75 (under investigation)

Compiled by Deputy Fire Coordinator John Kryger, Rockland County Office of Fire & Emergency Services